


The Act of Patience

by ThatGuy62



Category: Kirby (Video Games)
Genre: Character Study, Damned By Faint Praise: The Fic, Gen, In a way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-22 11:57:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21301682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatGuy62/pseuds/ThatGuy62
Summary: Zero tolerates Dark Matter. Which, by Zero's standards, is pretty significant.
Relationships: Zero & Dark Matter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	The Act of Patience

**Author's Note:**

> ...I don't know.  
This started off as something... different, let's just say, but the tone turned out too general, so it's mostly just a showcase of my interpretation of Zero.  
By the way, this runs under the same logic as the Dream Land 3 manual, in that the term "Dark Matter" applies mostly to the character rather than the aliens in general  
(Also, having two characters who refer to themselves with the pronoun "it" was a mistake).

Zero hated everything.

That was not an exaggeration. Zero honestly and truly hated everything there was about the universe. It hated the various happy, inoffensive planets. It hated the twinkles of stars throughout the cosmos. Whenever it came across deep stretches of empty Space, it hated that too. On some level, deep down, Zero probably even hated itself.

It was hard to think of anything Zero didn’t, in some way shape or form, hate or generally dislike.

Perhaps, that was why it remained unamused by the antics of its ''allies'.

The Dark Tribe wasn’t very populous, and Zero probably preferred it that way by virtue of not having anything else to hate. For starters, there was Dark Zero (or, as it fancied calling itself during its more ‘independent’ phases, Dark Nebula), some failed incarnation that somehow formed without a body, and thus was forced to make one out of dark clouds. Mentally speaking, Nebula was… not entirely there, and was a wee bit trigger-happy in regards to confrontations with other planets. In some sick twist of fate, Nebula  _ was _ one of the more combat-talented members of the clan, but that was only worth so much when its agility and stamina were below useful levels. Nebula swears that he is talented at using bodies, but Zero finds that hard to believe.

Zero presumed it to be a cosmic prank of sorts. A mockery.

Another incarnation was Zero Two, who had its own set of underlings: A trio of clouds known as Dark Rimura, Dark Rimuru and Dark Rimuro, along with a commander under the name of Miracle Matter. In honesty, Zero was… disturbed by Zero Two. As much as Zero could feel disappointed in Dark Nebula, Dark Nebula at least emoted. Zero Two goes back and forth from being a blissfully ignorant angel with an  **all too familiar** ** _ face_ ** to simply existing. No emotion, no reaction, simply existing. Sometimes Zero felt intrigued by it in a disturbed fashion. Other times, Zero felt envious, since feeling nothing was probably a more fulfilling lifestyle than feeling nothing but endless rage. And, at all times, Zero hated it.

At one point, Zero ideally wondered just  _ where _ these incarnations were coming from. It eventually decided to blame inter-dimensional shenanigans for this. It made a mental note to hate anything relating to dimensions, both alternate and the one it currently inhabited.

Then there was Gooey, but nobody dared mention Gooey.

Lastly, there was Dark Matter.

Dark Matter was the reliable one. The dependable one. The one that actually seemed to be able to carry out a simple task without being difficult about it. Dark Matter, who shared Zero’s hatred of everything and wanted to create worlds of darkness. Who could do it  _ without _ the need of a core like Zero/Two and Miracle Matter.

“Master Zero. I have returned.”

Sure enough, Dark Matter was floating there, in front of its master, in its Blade form. Floating next to it appeared to be a stack of tomes of some sort. Dark Matter seemed to notice the curious gleam in its boss’s eye.

“I found this while exploring a nearby planet. It appears to be a machinery guide of some sort.” Matter pulled out another book. “This one came from a moon that was missing half of its mass. It is more of a fictional account. Telling of various planets and stars that do not exist.”

_ “...And why do you see fit to alert me of this?” _

“Because I was wondering…” Matter’s voice grew quieter at this point. “If I could perhaps....keep them?”

Zero gave an irked look to its underling. In truth, trivial literary pursuits were not something that the Dark Tribe leader chose to pursue. Zero did know how to read, but both the ability and any literature it came across were sorted squarely into “might be worth reinstating after all of the universe is under my control” territory. By contrast, Dark Matter had taken an interest in other cultures’ literature, even if it had to teach itself to read. For that matter, Matter came off as… what was the word mortals use….  _ Tsundere _ about other worlds. In spite of acting antagonistic to them, it wasn’t uncommon for Matter to explore a world and come back with trinkets that it swore could be useful to the invaders in some sense, no matter how far-fetched the claim was. It got to the point where Matter’s hatred of everything actually seemed to stem from  _ envy  _ rather than principle like Zero’s did. 

In truth, Dark Matter and Zero were differentiated by several things, but one thing in particular: Dark Matter could process the entire emotional spectrum. It knew what happiness was, how to feel it, and most importantly, how it felt when it wasn’t there. By contrast, happiness was an alien concept to Zero. Zero knew how sadness, rage, jealousy, hatred, despair and general negativity felt, usually because it was always feeling one of those emotions, but happiness and those like it were a complete unknown. Indeed, long ago Dark Matter was as optimistic as Gooey and the ensuring souring on the universe at large no doubt lead to seething resentment that, in some ways, was worse than what Zero was feeling.

Sometimes, it felt like Dark Matter operated entirely out of spite. And Zero could empathize with that.

“_...Very well. I will allow it,_”

“Thank you Lord Ze-”

“_...If, you can convince me of their worth. I am waiting._”

Matter grew silent. It did not try to argue. It did not try to lie. It simply went over to the books, picked them up (in a matter of speaking) and began floating off in a defeated manner.

It was at that moment that Zero realized why Dark Matter was its most reliable ally: Dark Matter’s loyalty ensured that Zero did not hate it. Granted, it did not feel any real positive emotions, nor did this realization lead to any similar ones, but Matter didn’t make it feel angrier or more miserable. In fact, Zero could very well say that it  _ tolerated _ Matter. Which, at the end of the day, was still a step up from the hatred it held for everything else.

“_On second thought,_” Zero broadcasted in an annoyed tone. “_You have not disappointed me lately. Perhaps I can allow it._”

Dark Matter immediately flew back in front of its master and beamed happily.

“Thank you Lord Zero! It is always my pleasure to serve you!”

“_Yes._” Zero said in an unconvinced tone. It was already regretting this decision. “_Just ensure that this does not affect your performance. The last thing I need is for you to have your head out of the clouds._”

As Dark Matter flew off excitedly to read its newfound literature, Zero found itself alone once more. It bitterly chastised itself for coddling Dark Matter, but a small, oft-ignored part of it knew that it was actually envy it was feeling and not jealousy.

Perhaps it and Dark Matter truly aren’t that different...

**Author's Note:**

> So what's next?  
Well, I do have plans for a crossover nobody asked for, and if I do write it, then expect the Dark Clan to show up, though they'll be less... friendly than I portrayed them here.  
I may also do one-shots for Zero Two, Dark Nebula and Miracle Matter. Maybe even Void Termina, who knows?  
If you want more of my writing in general, check me out on FFN. I'm the writer of one of, like 5, Bowser Jr. fanfics in the Smash section, so if you like him, it may be worth checking out.  
Now that I've shilled my work, have a pleasant day.


End file.
